Capital (1867) - Marx Flashcards
What is capital?
- wealth used in making profits and represents capacity for capitalist exploitation
What is a commodity, and what are its two essential components?
an external object that satisfies human needs, whether directly or indirectly. Its two essential components are:
- Use-value: usefulness of a commodity, determined by its physical properties.
- Exchange-value: The worth of a commodity in relation to others, determined by the labor required to produce it.
What is socially necessary labor time?
average labor time required to produce a commodity under normal conditions with average skill and intensity. It determines the value of a commodity based on the labor theory of value.
How does productivity affect the value of commodities?
As productivity increases, the need for labor decreases, reducing the value of commodities. For example, advanced production techniques result in cheaper products but less value due to reduced labor time.
What is commodity fetishism?
Idea that commodities appear to have intrinsic value independent of labor that produces them. It obscures social relations of production and hides value of human labor behind commodities and money.
What is profit?
surplus-value : extract surplus value from the worker as workers produce value greater than cost of their wages.
Profit actually derives from buying and selling of labour-power, which is the nature of the exchange between the capitalists and the proletariats
What is the circulation of commodity?
C - M - C
- refers to simple exchange
- Money is used to buy commodities that satisfy needs.
- Primitive economies use this process where the goal is consumption based on use-values
How does money turn into capital?
- Capitalist exchange where money used to buy commodities -> sold to generate more money (M’) through production of surplus value through labour process
- goal of capitalist –> accumulate profit & capital
- represented by money commodity purchase formula: M-C-M’ (M’ representing money more than initial amnt)
How does alienation manifest in capitalism?
- Workers produce goods not for themselves or society but for the interests of capital.
- They do not control value they create, which is appropriated by capitalists.
- Alienation dehumanizes workers, turning labor into a tool for generating surplus value instead of an act of fulfillment.
What does Marx mean by “capital grows through the exploitation of labor”?
Workers produce goods and value but do not own or control that value. The surplus value created by their labor is appropriated by capitalists, leading to the accumulation of capital.
What is labour-power?
Capacity of workers to perform labor, & treated as a commodity in labor market. Capitalist employs workers to produce, adding value to original commodity. Labour power often a commodity purchased by capitalists
What is the significance of money as a universal equivalent?
- Money serves as an universal equivalent by facilitating exchange of commodities.
- It measures value but has no use-value of its own, unlike commodities.
- It becomes central to circulation of capital.
What does Marx mean by “The movement of capital is therefore limitless”?
Capital defined by its endless cycle of accumulation (M-C-M’), where money perpetually reinvested to generate more money, driving capitalist system forward.
What is the “metamorphosis of commodities”?
Commodities undergo transformation in value during exchange, moving through 4 stages & 3 characters (dramatis personae). This process symbolizes the conversion of commodities into capital.
What role does ideology play in maintaining capitalism?
Ideology justifies exploitative system by making it appear natural & inevitable. It masks exploitation, creating a social consciousness that normalizes capitalist structure until revolution / change occurs.
